Sloane entered the house and kicked off her shoes. She had been walking a lot for work today so her feet were sore. She was looking forward to a warm foot bath and just relaxing tonight.

She walked straight to the kitchen and filled the household washbasin with warm water and some foot oil. She found a towel and carried both items into the living room. She placed the towel in front of the couch, the household washbasin on top of it, and sat down on the couch. She put her feet into the water, let out a sigh, and closed her eyes.

"Rough day?" Randy asked.

She opened her eyes and looked at him. She hadn't even heard him come home. She had been spacing out completely.

"Yeah, a lot of walking today. It's all good. I love my job. It's worth a bit of pain sometimes," she said.
"Speaking of jobs, I invited people from work for dinner next week," he said.

She tried her hardest not to sigh or roll her eyes. Her lovely foot bath was ruined.

"What day?" She asked.
"Friday," he answered.
"Friday?" She asked loudly. "You know we got an important client coming in Friday and that I've been tasked to run everything. I can't Friday. This is important."

His eyes turned hard. She hated when he got in that mood. He knew all he had to do was raise his voice and threaten to kick her out, and she would fall right back in line.

"This dinner is important," he said. "Tell your boss you can't do it."
"I'll lose my job, Randy. This client is important. I'm the one who made a connection with him. He only wants to work with me. We'll lose him if I don't do it," she said.
"So?" He shrugged. "There's other clients."
"I'll get fired," she said.
"There's other jobs," he said.
"You have got to be shitting me!" She yelled.

She moved her feet up from the foot bath and placed them on the towel on each side of the household washbasin. She stood up but he pushed her so she fell right back down on the couch. This scared her. He had never put his hands on her before. He leaned down and placed a hand on the back rest of the couch and stared her down. He was so close to her and she didn't dare to move.

"I don't give a fuck if you lose your job," he said in a cold tone. "You will do this. Understand?"

She nodded and fought to keep back the tears.

"Do you fucking understand?" He screamed.

Spit hit her face as he was screaming. She couldn't keep the tears back. They ran down her cheeks.

"Yes," she said.
"Good," he said.

He stood back up as if nothing had just happened and walked out of the living room. She listened as he walked to the bathroom while whistling. He wasn't even sorry. She heard him close the door and the water start running. She grabbed her phone and stood up. He liked long showers so she had plenty of time. She dialed Becky's number and listened to it ring while chewing on a nail and walking over to the window to look outside. There was a time she had loved this neighborhood. Now she never wanted to see it again.

"Hey, Sloane," Becky answered.
"Becky!" Sloane said firmly.
"Is everything alright?" Becky asked.
"No, nothing's alright. He's doing it again," Sloane said.
"Yeah, dinner Friday next week. Seth just told me. You know we only attend them for you, right?" Becky asked.
"You do?" Sloane asked.
"We do," Becky answered. "Hold up, Seth's here too. I'm putting you on speaker."

Sloane waited a few seconds and then she heard Seth as well.

"Hey, Sloane," Seth said.
"Hi, Seth," Sloane said.
"So when are you moving in?" Seth asked.
"What?" Sloane asked confused.
"Becky told me," Seth said.
"We're just waiting for you to tell us when," Becky said.

Sloane kept staring out of the window. An old couple were walking their dog. They both looked so happy. In that moment she knew she couldn't stay with Randy anymore.

"I wanna hurt him," Sloane said.
"Now you're talking my language, love," Becky giggled.
"Any chance you don't work Friday next week?" Sloane asked. "I got an important client at work and I can't take the day off."
"I'm not cooking dinner," Becky said.
"Okay, give me some credit. I would never ask you to do that," Sloane said.
"She's a great cook though," Seth said.

Becky and Seth chuckled on their end. It warmed Sloane's heart to hear that. Two people being happy together. She couldn't remember when she last felt like that with Randy.

"I should have gone out with that friend of yours when he asked," Sloane said.
"You broke poor Sheamus' heart," Becky said.
"And he was so embarrased that he hadn't caught on to you and Randy being couple. To be fair, Randy ignored you all night. How could he know? He thought you were a work friend as well," Seth said.
"He's still single if you're interested," Becky said.
"Yeah sure," Sloane smirked at the thought. "Get me out of here and we can go on a double date."

Becky laughed on her end. She wasn't sure if it was a joke or not, but she liked the idea.

"So Friday," Becky said.
"I got a plan but I don't know if it's fucked up to do," Sloane said.
"With Randy nothing's too fucked up. He deserves everything you throw at him after how he's been treating you," Seth said.
"What do you need me to do?" Becky asked.